The Hollow Point (2016)

Directed by: Gonzalo López-Gallego | 97 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Patrick Wilson, Lynn Collins, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Jim Belushi, Heather Beers, Michael Flynn, Derek Boone, David Fernandez Jr., Nathan Stevens, David H. Stevens, Karli Hall, Craig Clyde, Yolande Wood

An old sheriff (Ian McShane) is taken to a town on the border with Mexico. The town soon turns out to be the scene of a drug deal between Mexican drug cartels. The town’s sheriff (Patrick Wilson) must team up with his predecessor to investigate the source of the deal and stop a mysterious hit man from one of the cartels. A difficult and dangerous task, which turns out to be tantamount to flirting with a violent death.

The cast that passes in review in ‘The Hollow Point’ promises a lot, as witnessed by the presence of acclaimed actors such as Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Patrick Wilson and Jim Belushi. Despite that fine line-up, ‘The Hollow Point’ is certainly not a memorable piece of film art. This is mainly due to the lack of an overarching vision. The film contains quite a few nice scenes, punchlines and one-liners, but they mostly stand on their own and are not part of a solid or compelling narrative that keeps things together. The film is not without violent encounters between the main protagonists, but those confrontations often go illogical or have remarkably little impact on the narrative as a whole. A good example of this is the scene where Sheriff Wallace (Wilson) has her hand chopped off with a machete.

The characters in this film also remain flat and, except for the former sheriff Leland, played by Ian McShane, do not really come into its own. A shame, because the mysterious hit man Atticus (John Leguizamo) could have become an intriguing film character with a better script and a more balanced direction. Thematically, ‘The Hollow Point’ has similarities with films like ‘Sicario’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’. The urgency and meaning that shines through so clearly in ‘Sicario’, namely the knowledge that the battle between the authorities and Mexican drug cartels is a dirty, downright gruesome war and that the drug traffickers are calculating, profit-maximizing criminals, is missing in ‘The Hollow Point. ‘ complete. The battle between criminals and law enforcement here is rather a vague and undefined shadow play. It takes place on dusty country roads and is fought through classic standoffs reminiscent of the bygone days of the Wild West. This approach evokes memories of the neo-noir style of ‘No Country for Old Men’. But the oppressive, at times hallucinatory atmosphere and masterful cinematography that were so typical of this masterpiece by the Coen brothers, are rarely if ever equaled in ‘The Hollow Point’.

‘The Hollow Point’ does have its moments, but unfortunately forget that a good film is more than just the sum of its parts. A few excellent scenes do not guarantee a captivating narration that grips viewers from start to finish. It also doesn’t help that ‘The Hollow Point’, both stylistically and substantively, is very close to a much better film like ‘No Country for Old Men’. What’s left is a mediocre action thriller that won’t make most movie hearts beat faster.